Horizontal counter freezer



Dec. 20,l 1938. v A, RUTTIMAN 2,141,045

HORI ZONTAL COUNTER FREEZ ER Filed July 23, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet l ,blad

Patented Dec. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES HORIZONTAL COUNTER FREEZER Alfred Ruttiman, Gardner, Mass., assignor to The Alaska Freezer Co., Inc., Winchendon, Mass., a. corporation of Massachusetts Application July 23, 1937, Serial No. 155,276

Claims.

This invention relates to ice-cream freezers and more particularly to freezers of horizontal type and of relatively small capacity such as are supplied to retail stores and are commonly known as counter freezers. Such freezers are preferably associated with mechanically cooled ice-cream storage cabinets and utilize the same cooling apparatus for freezing the cream.

It is the general object of-my invention to provide an improved freezer of the horizontal counter type, which will be economical to manufacture, simple and convenient in operation, and particularly well adapted to its intended purposes.

To the accomplishment of this general object, important features of my invention relate to the provision of improved means for supporting and driving the parts whichvagitate the cream; to improved devices for introducing additional material to the freezer While it is in operation and for similarly removing thefrozen product therefrom; and to improved devices for effectively closing the freezer but permitting easy removal of the working parts therefrom.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my improved freezer;

Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation, taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the rear or driving portion of the freezer;

Fig. 4 is asimilar View of the front portion of the freezer;

Fig. 5 is a partial rear View of the front end member, looking in the direction of the arrow 5 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a partial rear elevation of a spider forming a part of the dash and scraper assembly which rotates within the container, looking in the direction of the arrow S in Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional View, taken along the line 1-1 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a partial sectional plan view, taken along the line 8 8 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a partial bottom view of the stationary dasher, looking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2;

Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional elevation of the dasher, taken along the line Iiilli in Fig. 2;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of a closing plate for the delivery outlet;

Fig. 12 is a sectional elevation, taken along the line |2-i2 in Fig. 1l;

Fig. 13 is a detail plan view, partly in section, looking in the direction of the arrow I3 in Fig. l and showing clamping means for the front end member;

Fig. 14 is a diagrammatic view showing the circulation of the cooling fluid;

Fig. 15 is a partial side elevation of the rotary dash and scraper assembly;

Fig. 16 is an end View, looking in the direction of the arrow I6 in Fig. 15;

Fig.,l7 is a plan view of a dash member, looking in the direction of the arrow I1 in Fig. 15;

Fig. 18 is a side elevation of a bushing to be described; and

Fig. 19 is an end view of said bushing, looking in the direction of the arrow I9 in Fig. 18.

Referring to the drawings, my improved freezer is preferably assembled in a two-part casing, the upper portion 2E) of which contains the freezer, while the lower portion 2| houses the motor M by which the dash and scraper assembly is rotated. A door 22 in the front end of the lower portion 2l gives convenient access to the motor.

The upper portion comprises an outer casing 24, a cylindrical inner casing 25, front and rear annular frame members 26 and 21, and an inner bearing support 28 which also forms the rear end of the casing 25.

A short stud 3Q (Fig. 3) is rotatably mounted in the hub portion 3l of the bearing support 28 and is preferably provided with a combined antifriction and thrust bearing 32. The enlarged inner end portion 33 of the stud extends through the bearing support 28 to the interior of the freezer, and is slabbed off at its inner end portion as indicated at 311. Suitable packing 35 and 56 is provided at the sides of the anti-friction bearing 32. A pivot portion a is formed at the inner end of the stud 30.

A double grooved pulley 3'! is fixed to the outer end of the stud ,3U and is connected by a pair of V belts 38 to a grooved driving pulley 39 (Fig. 2) on the armature shaft of the motor M. The pulley 31 is preferably dished as indicated in Fig. 3 to bring the belt pull more nearly in the plane of the bearing 32.

A cooling coil is provided for the freezer and preferably comprises two sections 43 and 4l wound closely on the outer surface of the con tainer casing 25. The space between the coil sections 48 and l!! and the outer casing `il is filled with suitable heat-insulating material 42.

The cooling coil sections 40 and 4| are preferably connected in parallel, as indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 14, which also shows a by-pass ifi and a thermostat control device 45. The cooling liquid may be furnished from any suitable source but is commonly supplied by the mechanical cooling unit of an ice-cream storage cabinet with which my improved counter freezer is usually associated. The cooling apparatus and associated cabinet are not shown in the drawings of this application.

My improved freezer is provided with a stationary dasher, as 58 (Fig. 2), and with a driven and rotating dash and scraper assembly which comprises spiders 5| and 52 (Fig. l5), cross rods 53 and dash bars Ell. The back spider 5| is provided With an elongated recess 55 (Figs. 3 and 6) which receives the slabbed inner end portion 34 of the driving stud 88 and with an axial opening 55 to receive the pivot portion 38a of the stud 88.

The front spider 52 (Fig. 16) is provided with a cylindrical opening 5l rotatable on a bushing 58 having a cylindrical outer surface as shown in Fig. i9 and supported in a manner to be described.

Scraper blades 58 are associated with the cross rods 53, and each blade 6@ is provided with a plurality of lugs El pivotally supported on said rods. The ends of the blades 68 extend through notches 52 (Figs. 6 and 16) in the sides of the end portions of those arms of the spiders 5| and 52 which are connected by the cross rods 53. The notches 52 permit the scraper blades E@ to swing outward to engage the inner surface of the cylindrical casing 25 but prevent excessive inward displacement of the blades. The alternate spider arms E5 (Fig. 15 .and 16) are preferably disposed somewhat angularly, as indicated in Fig. 15, with their outer edge portions adjacent the ends of the freezer container and acting as scrapers to prevent accumulation of frozen cream on said ends.

The arms 55 are also provided with inner projections 56 to which are secured the ends of the dash bars 56|. These dash bars are each provided with a plurality of angularly disposed outer ribs Si (Figs. 15 and 17) by which the cream is agitated and is also propelled toward the outer end of the container.

The outer end of the container is closed by an end member i8, snugly tting an annular seat in the outer surface of the front end frame member 225 previously described.

The end member 'iii has an inlet or supply passage 'll in its upper portion and an outlet or delivery passage i2 in its lower portion. The inlet passage il has .a hinged cap 'E3 to exclude dirt therefrom, and at its lower end merges into a U-shaped opening 'i5 near the axial center of the end member lil. The opening 'I5 is of the somewhat unusual outline indicated in Fig. 5, with portions 'i5 of the opening extending down on each side of the center or bearing portion 'I1 of the member l5. The utility of this particular form of opening will be hereinafter described.

A stud Sil (Fig. 4) is mounted in an opening 3i in the bearing portion 'il of the end member 'itl and has a fiange i12 engaging the inner face of said portion l?. A threaded collar 83 is loosely mounted on the outer end portion 84 of the stud 85, and the stud and collar .are held in fixed position in the end member 'l0 by a nut 35.

The inner end of the stud 88 is of tapered hexagonal formation, as indicated at 86, and is designed to receive the bushing 5B which has a corresponding hexagonal inner opening 81 (Fig. 19). rihe bushing 58 is thus supported in axial position out is held from rotation.

The fixed stationary dasher 50 comprises a longitudinally extending shaft 5|)a having a plurality of recessed Wings 98 arranged alternately along opposite sides of the dasher 50 and at an acuate angle with its axis, as indicated in Fig. 9. The angle is such that the reaction of the wings 58 assists the movement of the contents of the freezer toward the front or outer end.

The dasher 5i) is provided at its rear end with a reduced cylindrical portion 92 which fits loosely in the axial opening 56 of the rear spider 5|, which opening 56 also receives the centering stud or pivot portion 35e formed on the inner end of the driving stud 3Q, as previously described. The stationary dasher 58 is thus fully supported at its rear end in the hub of the rotating spider 5| but is not driven thereby.

At its front or outer end, the dasher 50 has a hexagonal portion Sii (Fig. 4) loosely tting within the hexagonal opening 81 (Fig. 19) of the bushing 58. The outer end of the stationary dasher is thus axially supported and held from rotation by the bushing 58, which in turn is mount on the hexagonal inner end portion 86 Vof the stud 85 which is secured in the end member lil.

In order to clamp the end member 'lll firmly in position to close the freezer, I provide a cross bar |88 (Fig. l) pivoted at lill to the end frame member 28. The free end of the cross bar |00 has a cam portion 82 (Fig. 13) adapted to be engaged by a roll |53 mounted in a cam lever |04 which is pivoted at |85 to the frame member 26. By swinging the lever |84 in the direction of the arrow a in Fig. 13, the cross bar |00 will be clamped securely in position.

The cross bar E is provided with a threaded opening in its middle portion, adapted to receive the threaded collar 83 (Fig. 4). By loosening the nut 35, the collar 83 may be turned to adjust it in the cross bar |88, so that any desired pressure may be exerted on the end member 10. After the desired adjustment is made, the nut is again tightened and a cap |01 (Fig. 4) may be applied to conceal the nut 85, thereby improving the appearance of the freezer as well as preventing tampering with the closure adjustment.'

rThe cover plate i i8 for the delivery passage 12 is preferably of the construction shown in Figs. 11 and 12, and is provided with an end slot ||I and a side slot H2. The side walls of the slots are beveled outwardly as indicated in the drawings and are designed to receive spring-pressed studs i i4 by which the cover plate is firmly held in position while at the same time it is easily removable for cleaning or other purposes.

Having described the details of construction of my improved freezer, the utility and advantages thereof will be readily apparent. The end member l5 is adjustably mounted on the cross bar |00 and swings easily into and out of position therewith. By the described adjustment, the pressure of the cross bar may be regulated to firmly seat the end member and thus prevent leakage from the container,

When the end member 'lll is swung outward, the bushing 58 commonly remains in the spider and is removed from the container with the stationary dasher 5i! and the rotary dash and scraper' assembly. The dasher 56 may then be released from the rotary elements by axially removing the bushing 58 from the spider 52. All

of the working parts of the freezer are thus very easily assembled or separated and are driven or held stationary as desired during the operation of the machine.

l The particular shape and location of the opening 15, with its lower portions 16, possesses the veryimportant advantage that additional material may be added at any time to the freezer while it is in operation, while at the same time the agitated contents of the freezer will not be thrown outward through the inlet passage TI. It is the tendency of this type of freezer to throw the contents of the freezer outward by centrifgal force and thus create an area of low pressure near the axis, to which additional material is easily fed. The downwardly extended Yportions 16 of the opening 15 are useful when supplying additional liquid to the freezer, as the liquid can ow inward through the portions 16 while the necessarily displaced air iiows upward and outward through the upper part of the opening 15. The provision of an inlet passage of the kind described also allows convenient inspection of the contents of the freezer during the freezer operation without spattering of the contents outward through the inlet opening.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof,'I donot wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:-

1. In a horizontal counter freezer, a casing having a removable front end member, a stud xed in said end member and having a non-circular inner end portion, a cylindrical removable bushing loosely fitting said stud and having an axial opening of similar non-circular cross section, a dash and scraper assembly supported for rotation at its outer end on said bushing, and a stationary dasher having a non-circular end portion held from rotation by said bushing.

2. In a horizontal counter freezer, a casing having a removable front end member, a stud lixed in said end member and having a non-circular inner end portion, a cylindrical bushing loosely fitting said stud and having an axial opening of similar non-circular cross section, a dash and scraper assembly supported for rotation at its outer end on said bushing, and a stationary dasher having a non-circular end portion held from rotation by said bushing, said bushing being axially removable from said dashl and scraper assembly to release said dasher.

3. In a horizontal counter freezer, a container, an end member to close said container, a hinged cross bar having a threaded opening therein, a threaded member mounted on said end member and threaded in said opening in said cross bar, and means to lock said threaded member in angularly adjusted and fixed axial position on said end member.

4. In a horizontal counter freezer, a container, an end member to close said container, a hinged cross bar having a threaded opening therein, a stud in said end member, a collar rotatable on said stud and threaded to t said opening, and means to lock said collar in angularly adjusted and iixed axial position on said stud and end member.

5. In a horizontal counter freezer,` a container, an end member to close said container, a hinged cross bar having a threaded opening therein, a stud in said end member, a collar rotatable on said stud and threaded to fit said opening, means to lock said collar in angularly adjusted position on said stud and end member, and a cap threaded to fit the end of said collar and concealing said locking means.

ALFRED RUTTIMAN. 

